08/03/201/7 – As the global population continues to grow, the rice industry is calling for more investment to help grow more rice with less water, on less land.

Every single day, three billion people consume rice around the world.

The International Rice Research Institute is reporting rice production needs to increase by 25 per cent in the next 25 years to meet demand for the grain.

Director Matthew Morell said Australian currently produced one million tonnes of rice each year out of a global figure of 700 million tonnes.

He said while the Australian industry was impacted by the price and availability of water, researchers were developing varieties that used less water and trialling rice in new areas, such as north of the country.

Dr Morell said rice needed to be a priority to ensure global food security.

Rice production needs to meet global demand

“Australia is not a major player in terms of volume player but in terms of production of high quality rice that is traded internationally, Australia is a significant player,” he said.

“That’s the niche Australia is currently occupying in the rice market.

Dr Morell said 30 per cent of the calories consumed across the globe came from rice.

“Without rice production being able to meet the increasing demand driven by population growth, global food and nutritional security is at risk.